Teenager pleads to cousins’ knife killing

LANCASTER – An 18-year-old Littlerock man charged in the 2010 slashing death of his 11-year-old cousin and the knife attack of her 14-year-old sister pleaded Wednesday, the District Attorney’s Office announced.

Lonnie Lee Liner pleaded no contest to one count each of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, said Deputy District Attorney S. Kelly Cromer of the Antelope Valley Branch Office.

The defendant, who was 16 at the time the case was filed but was charged as an adult, also admitted allegations of great bodily injury and personal use of knife in the commission of the attempted murder.

Liner will be sentenced on April 26 in Department A17 of Antelope Valley Court. Under the terms of a negotiated settlement, Liner will be sentenced to 11 years, plus 15 years to life and waive almost two years of time served, the prosecutor said.

Liner attacked the girls in their Littlerock home on the morning of Aug. 3, 2010. The 11-year-old victim’s throat was slashed. She died inside the home. Her sister suffered multiple knife wounds, but managed to escape.